Time to sit back and relax

I updated the Portfolio blogpage to include print screens of my wife’s StashAway and Smartly robo-advisor account values. I even included our Vanguard UK ETF Portfolio value that is made up of:

Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF (VHYD on LSE)

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (VDEM on LSE)

Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF (VEUD on LSE)

Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan UCITS ETF (VDPX on LSE)

It’s taken a while to set up this ETF investing strategy that we can apply in the long run. There’s been a level of urgency to have a sustainable long term financial strategy since the beginning of 2017. Combined with the additional work stress and higher retrenchment risk, it has taken its toll on us. I keep telling myself sacrifices are necessary for the future we are trying to build for ourselves. But I didn’t account for the price we have to pay with our physical and emotional well-being.

As I try to exercise more to counteract me falling sick more often, it starts to work but the effects are limited with insufficient rest. My tighter schedules on weekdays and weekends also result in me spending less time with my wife and our families & friends. Which causes more misunderstandings, conflicts and fights. It never ceases to amaze me how much of a balancing act life is. An over focus on one aspect inadvertently means a lack of focus in another. There’s just no way to have everything but I refuse to sacrifice what’s important to me.

It’s time to sit back and relax. My work is done for now when it comes to actively managing our investments. I can finally engage in passive management i.e. monitoring the monthly automated investing and make adjustments & manual investments in times of market dips and crashes. I’m going to keep blogging because I enjoy writing about the stuff that interests me. But you have no idea how much I am looking forward to this. Less worries, lower stress levels, more free time, etc.

Anyway, I’m going to start by planning a holiday to Southern France in October 2017. We just booked our multi-city flights to Nice and back from Paris. Will probably do day trips from Nice and head into the Provence region for a few nights before doing some shopping in Paris. Thinking of another short trip either before (back to Australia?) or after the holiday (another ski trip?).

Annual leave and leisure time for full-time employees like us are important. We are not looking to move from our current firms and banking jobs for a while. This should allow us to accumulate more annual leave and time off from work. If the economy can just stabilise further, we may even be secure enough to start a family. One can always hope.